小孩子用的雪盆 / Sleighs in a park

It is common for large mounds to be constructed in small parks in residential areas of Sapporo. They are typically a few meters high; with children able to easily push their bicycles to the top (or ride their bicycle to the summit for bigger children.) In winter, these small hills turn into good playgrounds for enjoying sleighs. In Hokkaido, sleighs for kids are sold at DIY centers and supermarkets. They're about a meter long are typically blue or red. Plastic sleighs are quite common among kids in Hokkaido. It’s one of the winter features here in snow country.

位在札幌的住宅區裡面的公園，常常有人造的小山丘。大約是夏天時小孩子可以推著腳踏車爬上小丘的高度，到了冬天就變成玩雪盆的舞台。在家居賣場或是超市都有販賣小孩子用的雪盆。約1公分厚，藍色或是紅色的塑膠製品的雪盆，為雪國的北海道冬天必備的物品。這是北海道冬季的例行活動之一。

札幌市繪本圖書館 / Sapporo Picture Book Library

札幌市繪本圖書館（位於札幌市白石區）收集繪本和連環畫劇的圖書館。可以不受氣候和氣溫影響來親子同樂。週六日也很常舉辦繪本讀書會、人偶劇和紙工藝工坊等活動。即使發出聲音讀繪本也沒有問題。也有英文繪本專區。繪本圖書館位在白石區區役所合同廳舍的6樓。直接連結地下鐵白石站。

Sapporo Picture Book Library (Sapporo City Shiroishi-ku) is a city-managed library with a collection of picture books and materials for picture-card shows. Parents and their children or infants can enjoy it, even when the weather is bad. On Saturdays and Sundays, they hold special events such as public readings, puppet plays and workshops to make crafts like origami. Children and parents are welcome to read quietly together, of course while respecting other library users. They display picture books in English too. It’s on the 6th floor of the Shiroishi Ward Office Complex, which is connected to Shiroishi subway Station.

薑汁燒肉 / Shougayaki

薑汁燒肉是將使用薑汁的醬料來醃漬肉類，之後煎烤的日本料理。一般是使用豬肉。是日式套餐中的經典菜色之一。日式套餐除了餐廳之外，居酒屋也會供應。（特別是大多數的居酒屋只在午餐時段供應套餐，與夜晚營業時使用不同的菜單。）此外，薑汁燒肉也常作為便當的主菜。當然也是很受歡迎的家常菜。

Shougayaki is a popular dish using shouga, or ginger. Usually, pork is the staple ingredient in shougayaki. Some people like to marinate pork in soy sauce based sauce with ginger before cooking, while some like to put the pork and sauce together, then fry. Either way, shougayaki is a very popular dish in Japan. Typically, it’s served as a set meal or bento meal box at typical restaurants and izakaya restaurants. Many izakaya restaurants open at lunch time, offering different menus from dinner time. They usually offer only set meals and shogayaki is usually on it.

Photo by wikipedia

成吉思汗烤肉 / Jingisukan

成吉思汗烤肉是北海道代表的肉類料理。使用小羔羊肉或是成年羊肉。雖然也有人說成吉思汗烤肉算是鍋類料理，但料理方式上要使用到鐵板燒。成吉思汗烤肉主要有兩種，一種為將烤好的肉沾醬汁，一種為將醃製好的肉片直接燒烤食用。主流上使用的醬汁為醬油基底，但也有味增基底的醬汁。通常會和肉類一起將豆芽菜、洋蔥、南瓜等蔬菜一起燒烤。

Jingisukan is a local Hokkaido meat experience using lamb or mutton. In Hokkaido, it’s eaten through the year, either in the home or outdoors. Some people say Jingisukan is a hot pot, but its cooking style is simply meat cooked on a hot plate. There are two ways of enjoying Jingisukan. One is dipping the meat in a special sauce after cooking, while the other is marinating the meat before cooking. Soy sauce based sauce is used predominantly, but some prefer miso based sauce instead. Cooking with vegetables like beans sprouts, onion, and pumpkin is the typical style. In Hokkaido culture, yakiniku (grilled meat) equals Jingisukan.

Photo from wikipedia

什錦燒 / Okonomi Yaki

什錦燒是外國人會喜歡的日本料理中排名前位的經典菜色。發祥地是在大阪和廣島，但全國都可以吃的到。是使用麵粉、高麗菜、肉類、蔬菜類以及海鮮類來製作的鐵板燒菜色之一。為了燒製出蓬鬆的口感也會加入山藥。北海道山藥的生產量是日本47個都道府縣中的第一位。與第二位的青森縣合計佔有日本八成以上的產量。

Okonomi Yaki is one of the favorite dishes for international tourists coming to Japan, according to various studies. Osaka and Hiroshima in Honshu are meccas for the dish, but it’s enjoyed throughout Japan. Okonomi Yaki is actually a pancake, but savory. Cabbage and other ingredients such as meat and seafood are mixed with flour and dashi, Japanese soup stock, then fried. One of the key ingredients is Japanese yam, which enable the softness of the pancake. Hokkaido is the top producer of the 47 prefectural states while the second is Aomori. Hokkaido and Aomori occupy more than 80 percent of the share of production in Japan.

Photo from wikipedia

金平牛蒡 / Kimpira Gobou

金平牛蒡是和食的代表菜色之一。使用的食材有牛蒡、胡蘿蔔、蓮藕等根菜類。切成細絲後用甜鹹醬汁來拌炒。有時候也會放入辣椒。在日本很久以前開始就將牛蒡視為食用蔬菜，全球則是將牛蒡視為藥草而廣為人知。含有抗氧化作用的成分，富含食物纖維。北海道的牛蒡生產量是47個都道府縣中的第4位。

Kimpira Gobou is one of the most popular side dishes in Japanese cuisine. Kimpira is a boy's name in a famous, old Japanese tale who is physically very strong. Gobou is edible burdock, which is a popular ingredient for Japanese dishes, and is widely used as a medical plant throughout Asia. For Kimpira Gobou, a root plant such as edible burdock, carrot or lotus root is used. To cook it, the burdock is chopped into thin strips and cooked with soy sauce and a bit of sugar. Hokkaido is the fourth biggest producer of the 47 prefectural states in Japan.

高湯蛋捲 / Dashimaki Tamago

高湯蛋捲是在打散的蛋液裡混合高湯來煎烤的料理。是居酒屋的經典菜色之一也是常見的日本家常料理。是日式厚煎蛋捲的一種，特徵是有高湯的風味、多汁、柔軟且蓬鬆的口感。常常作為便當的菜色。使用四方形的專用平底鍋來煎烤。北海道的高湯蛋捲所使用的雞蛋幾乎100%是北海道產。

Dashimaki Tamago is a dish of fried eggs, which are first beaten and cooked with dashi. Dashi is Japanese soup stock made from fish or kombu kelp, while tamago means egg. It is nigh on a regular feature of menus in izakaya restaurants, but still typical for home cooking. This is a kind of Atsuyaki Tamago, thick fried egg rolled up. But, Dashimaki Tamago features the flavor from dashi. Because of the soft and juicy texture, it’s also popular for bento lunch boxes. To cook it, a special frying pan of a square shape is used. As for eggs in Hokkaido, they are 100% Hokkaido sourced.

Photo from Wikipedia

釧路文學館 / Kushiro Bungakukan

釧路文學館（位在釧路市）是在中央圖書館的6樓，收集、保存以及展示以釧路為舞台的小說等相關的文學資料。可以看到珍貴的首刷版和原稿。從北海道開拓時期以來，釧路作為道東的中心都市而繁榮，許多作家發表了以釧路為舞台的小說。實際在這裡居住的作家也很多，可以瞥見文學街道的風采。

Kushiro Bungakukan (Kushiro City), or museum of literature, is on the sixth floor of the city library. They archive and exhibit valuable books like first editions or authors’ handwritten manuscripts. Kushiro flourished in the relatively early times of Hokkaido's developmental period. Interestingly, many novelists, such as Takuboku Ishikawa, settled in Kushiro, the main city of eastern Hokkaido. They went on to write novels using Kushiro as the setting of the story. Kushiro City is proud of regarding itself as a town of literature. This small museum shows both temporary and regular exhibits.

札幌時鐘塔 / The Clock Tower

札幌時鐘塔（札幌市中央區）歷經5個月的外觀整修，在11月1日重新開放參觀。歷經5個月再次看到它外觀的顏色，令許多札幌市民感到訝異。因為看起來帶有些許綠色，不是大多數人印象中的白色外觀。和98年修復的時候相同，要經過一年之後才會變成白色。此外，這個顏色是再現1953年時修復的樣子。

The Clock Tower (Sapporo City Chuo-ku) reopened on November 1st, after five months of exterior restoration work. The exterior was covered over this time, and the renewed appearance brought some surprise to Sapporo locals, because the color was slightly different from previously. The new color looks relatively green, although we have recognized the Tower as white for a long time. Actually, this happened in the last restoration work in 1998, with the color turning white in the following year. So, we will see the same in 2019. According to the restoration company, they used the same paint as in 1953, when the last big renovation was held.

Old 

New

札幌市民交流廣場 / Sapporo Community Plaza

札幌市民交流廣場（札幌市中央區，北1条西1丁目）是2018年10月開幕的複合式文化藝術設施。由劇場、藝廊，以及圖書館三種設施所構成。以「舒適的工作與生活」為主題。各處都設置有桌子和椅子，可以用於辦公或進修。在圖書館內陳列著可以做為參考資料的書籍，並以各個主題來分類。

Sapporo Community Plaza (Sapporo City Chuo-ku, Kita 1-jo Nishi 1-chome) is a composite facility which opened in October 2018. It consists of three different sections - Sapporo Cultural Arts Theatre “Hitaru”, Sapporo Cultural Arts Community Center “SCARTS”, and Sapporo Municipal Library and Information Center. Hitaru can accommodate an audience of 2,300 for plays, operas, or other entertainment. SCART has several exhibition rooms for temporary art shows, workshops or events like that. In the library, these are many seats which allow people to sit down to work or study. The books in the library are labeled by theme which enable visitors to find material for their work or study with ease.

比目魚 / Karei

比目魚是北海道的家常料理中常食用魚種之一。根據北海道漁業協同組合聯合會的資料，在北海道可以捕獲14種的比目魚。而且，整年都可以捕獲到大量的比目魚是北海道的特徵。比目魚有各自不同的時節和特徵。活用各種種類的特徵來調理煮魚、烤魚、生魚片還有魚乾等各種美味料理。

Karei (flatfish or flounder in English) is a popular fish throughout Japan, and is also a staple fish for home cooking in Hokkaido. According to the official website of Hokkaido Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Association, 14 species are caught in the sea off Hokkaido. Also, the best time to eat differs for each, and people can enjoy in all seasons anyway. However, the best way of cooking depends on each species. Some are good for boiling, while some are better grilled. Don't forget sashimi (sliced raw fish) and sushi. Find dishes and using flounder at izakaya restaurants and try them!

http://sp.gyoren.or.jp/hokkaidos_fish/karei/index.html

第17回慕尼黑·聖誕市 2018 / The 17th annual German Christmas Market in Sapporo 2018

第17回慕尼黑·聖誕市集在2018年11月22日到12月25日於大通公園2丁目舉行。有聖誕節雜貨、熱紅酒、德國料理等攤位，運氣好的話也可能會碰到聖誕老人。今年作為新聖誕節的象徵，裝飾著德國聖誕節的經典裝飾，以及聖誕金字塔。

The 17th annual German Christmas Market in Sapporo is being held from November 22 to December 25, 2018. The site is Odori Park 2-chome, which is the second block on the West side. There are many temporary shops, selling Christmas goods like ornaments and decorations. The food and drink stalls, which offer German wine, German dishes and sweets, are also popular. If you are lucky, you might even see Santa Claus! This year, a Christmas Pyramid is the special exhibit. A Christmas Pyramid is a tower ornament exhibited at Christmas time in Germany. Sapporo and Munch in Germany have been sister cities since 1972.

https://white-illumination.jp/munich/

新琴似屯田兵中隊本部 / Shinkotoni Tondenhei Headquarters

新琴似屯田兵中隊本部（位於札幌市北區）是札幌市的歷史文化財產。位在新琴似神社的隔壁。1887年，從九州來的146戶人家為了開拓而移居到這裡。曾經是本部的建築被保留下來，成為一個小型博物館。可以了解到被稱作屯田兵，兼具北海道防衛和開拓任務的人們的生活方式。新琴似的屯田兵也修建了被稱作安春川的用水曲道。

Shinkotoni Tondenhei Headquarters (Sapporo City Kita-ku) is a historical building registered as a cultural asset of Sapporo. It is located adjacent to Shinkotoni Shrine. In 1887, 146 families came to this area from Kyushu to cultivate the land. They worked as Tondenhei, who were charged with protecting Hokkaido from other countries, and agriculture. The building used as their headquarters has been preserved and is now a museum. Visitors can learn how Tondenhei worked and lived. Tondenhei in Shinkotoni created an artificial river for agriculture and for preventing flooding. Now, it is called Yasuharu River, and it’s a popular leisure spot for local people.